Sunday July 20 2008
Information Technology Central Services at the University of Michigan
Search ITCom

Northwood DSL Network Service

Overview

IT Communications provides the Northwood Network Service, DSL, for residents of the Northwood Community Apartments (Northwood I, II, IV and V) and Single Undergraduate Housing (Northwood III). This service uses DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology. It is "always on," uses the standard Internet Protocol (IP), and can support various computer platforms (IBM-compatible PC, Macintosh, Unix, etc.) via Ethernet.

Northwood DSL Networking Guide

The DSL Networking Guide is available for download in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. If you do not already have a copy of Adobe Reader on your computer, it is available free of charge from Adobe.

Conditions of Use Policy

You—and everyone in your household who uses your Northwood DSL Network Service connection—are required to abide by these Conditions of Use. Failure to abide by these conditions may result in service disconnection.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Northwood DSL service?
DSL, also known as ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line), is a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone wires than a conventional dial-up modem can provide. The distinguishing characteristic of ADSL over other forms of data services is that the volume of data flow is greater in one direction than the other. Since typical usage of data services in the Northwood DSL environment is passive (i.e. more information is downloaded from the network rather than uploaded in the form of services), a majority of the available bandwidth is dedicated to the downstream channel.

How fast is Northwood DSL service?
The Northwood DSL service provides a maximum of 4 Mbps of bandwidth downstream and 1 Mbps of bandwidth upstream. Due to varying conditions of the copper cable in each apartment, the actual speeds may be lower. We continually monitor the existing line conditions and make improvements where we can.

Wireless

Wireless network access is available in some of the community spaces in the Northwood Apartments area. See: Wireless in the Residence Halls for location and connection information.

The DSL service in Northwood is a wired service. Although your DSL modem may have an antenna, the modem can not function in wireless mode. Housing has no plan at present to provide a residential wireless service in Northwood.

Resident supplied routers and wireless devices are not supported in Northwood Community Apartments. If a resident experiences problems using their personal router or wireless device, the resident should remove the device and restore the standard connection before requesting assistance from 4-HELP. ITCom and University Housing only support the device that is supplied.

If it is determined that a user supplied device may be causing problems for residents in other apartments, then the user will be asked to remove their equipment from the DSL network.

Some things that may affect wireless transmission are: microwave ovens, 2.4 GHz cordless phones, Bluetooth enabled devices, and other wireless LANs.

Northwood DSL Network Registration

Please read the DSL Networking Guide for instructions on configuring your computer and registering it with your DSL modem. Once the DSL modem is activated, you may register your computer. The LED status lights on your modem will indicate if it is activated or not (please see the troubleshooting section page 20 of the DSL Networking Guide for information on the LED status lights or Table 1 on page 8).
  • If you have configured your computer correctly and followed the registration procedure in the DSL Networking Guide, you should receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address that starts with 141.
  • If your IP address starts with 10, you have connectivity but you need to register your computer with the DHCP service.
  • If your IP address starts with 169, you may not have network connectivity or the DHCP service may be down. You may contact 4-HELP (764-4357) for assistance.

If you are already subscribed to the DSL, and you get a new computer or replace your Ethernet card in your current computer, you must register again with the Northwood Network DHCP service in order to obtain an IP address so that you can use your connection.

If you have a problem with the DHCP registration process, please refer to the Troubleshooting section of the Networking Guide, and/or the Troubleshooting and Repairs web page.

Registering Game Consoles and Other Devices

To register your game consoles and other devices such as routers, send an e-mail message to umnet@umich.edu, and include the following information:

  • your name
  • your uniqname
  • MAC address of the device

Instructions for Router Installation

If you are using a router, please follow these instructions for connecting to the DSL modem.
  • Connect the port labeled "WAN" or "Internet" on your router to the DSL modem.
  • DO NOT connect a port labeled "LAN" on your router to the DSL modem!
  • Follow the manufacturer's directions for configuration. If you check the router's status panel it should be getting a 10.213.xxx.yyy IP address. If it is not, you may have a problem with how you have it connected or configured which will need to be resolved before you can continue. (We do not support the use of routers; please refer to your router user manual.)
  • Once you have the 10.213.xxx.yyy IP address, connect a computer to the router. Make sure you are getting an IP address from the router and have good communications with it.
  • Register the router:
      Do it yourself:
      • Visit the DSL registration page and authenticate. This will register the router.
      • Wait 20-30 minutes and release/renew the router's IP address using its control panel, or by power-cycling the router.
      • If you can't reach the registration page, try accessing it from a computer connected directly to the DSL modem to be sure it is working in general. Assuming that it is working, failures to reach it from behind the router are probably indicative of a problem with how the router or connected computer is configured. These problems should be resolved before proceeding.
      Or:
      • Send an e-mail message to umnet@umich.edu, and include the following information: your name, your uniqname, and the MAC address of the router.

Troubleshooting and Repairs

If you have trouble with your connection, there are three sources of help: the Networking Guide, the Troubleshooting and Repairs web page, and the ITCS Helpdesk (4-HELP). If your connection is down completely, you will not be able to view a web page, so it might be a good idea to print out the Troubleshooting and Repairs web page in advance.

Related Products, Services, and Resources

Contact Information

For questions about the Northwood DSL Network Service, which are not covered in these web pages, please contact the ITCS Helpdesk, 764-HELP (on campus dial 4-4357), and select option #2. See the 4-HELP Web site for the ITCS Helpdesk (764-HELP) hours of operation.

If Northwood residents experience problems with their DSL service at a time when 4-HELP is not staffed, they may follow the instructions for troubleshooting and repairs in the Northwood DSL Networking Guide.

Sending email to online.consulting@umich.edu is also an option. Be sure to include a detailed description of the problem and your uniqname.

If unable to resolve the problem after following these instructions, call 764-HELP, listen to the message, and follow the instructions to leave a message to report an outage to a campus system (option #7). It is important to leave a description of the problem plus contact information, including name, phone, address, and uniqname. The messages left on the 4-HELP line will be monitored for system-wide outages and reported to appropriate on-call staff.